Outcast
by Tomoyo Kinomoto
Summary: A new girl comes to Japan, bringing with her chaos that could destroy the world. An Empire wants to take over their world but a group of rebels are trying to prevent it. What can the Mews do? Do they know that their biggest enemy is amongst their numbers? ON HIATUS
1. Chapter 1

**I do not own the Tokyo Mew Mew characters, but I do own everybody else. **I would also like to say thank you to all my readers, and more specifically, my reviewers (for any of my stories). I hope you enjoy this story.

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_In a court room of the Mugendai Kyuuten:_

"Bring in the prisoner!"

_SLAM!_ The heavy iron door was pushed open with a bang. The guards in the doorway didn't even look when more guards come into the room half-dragging a girl with them. She was thrown in the middle of the floor face-first. Slowly she stood up. She was not much older then 13, though she looked about 15. Her reddish-brown hair came down to a little above her elbow. Right now, it looked like the color of rust. Her skin was pale from lack of sunlight for a long time, and her eyes were gray-green. She was wearing a simple outfit of white long-sleeves and pants, but they were badly ripped. Over her whole body were bloody cuts and gashes. Where the skin wasn't red from blood, you could see huge bruises, some of which had started to swell up. Still, she glared at the judge, the Emperor, the Empress, and the jury. She knew that they were all going to find her guilty, but she didn't know how they would deal with it.

"We are here today," said the judge, "to see how Lysistrata will be punished for passing information about the Mugendi Kyuuten to another world, one which is not under our control. Do you disagree?" The last bit was directed at Lysistrata.

"No," She said.

"We have found that you have been talking to a world that is, or was, Ningenkai. Do you disagree?"

"…no."

"We also think we know the whereabouts of this Ningenkai. Would you like to just tell us where it is? Hmm?" This time it was the Emperor who spoke, and his tone was mocking.

"…" She would not reply. Her face showed that. The Emperor sighed and waved his hand lazily at the guards, his jewels tinkling as they collided together on his cuff. The guards who were around Lysistrata picked up their weapons. Their weapons were whips, but the guards at the doorway had spears and guns. The whips could either be used like normal whips, attack the body with an electrical charge, attack the magic, or attack the soul. So far, Lysistrata's soul was intact, but her magic and her body had already been severely beaten. _Hiss…thwack!_ The whips came down like hail on Lysistrata. She tensed, curling into a ball, preparing for the next blows, yet she was thankful. Her soul would still be intact. The Emperor waved his hand again, and they stopped.

"Now are you ready to tell us?" he asked, impatient. He then smiled craftily. "Guards! Get her soul." In horror, Lysistrata looked up. He was not joking. The first guard had raised his whip to strike her, when she called out.

"Stop! Please! I'll tell you the place, just don't hurt me like that."(A/n magic and body can heal, replenish, and strengthen itself, but if something happens to your soul, that's it. Nothing can be done about it)

"Very well, where is this place?"

"It is a Ningenkai. It's one of the Earths. The one where the aliens and humans are together, or as together as they can be. The aliens still have magic, and the humans are regaining it through science." The judge flipped through some papers on his platform.

"Oh yes. That was the world that you were raised on for quite sometime. Am I correct?"

"Yes," Lysistrata replied. She knew he only asked her to make sure that she was not lying. After all, the judge was the ones with the records.

"Isn't that the one where…?"

"Shh!" the Emperor interrupted the Empress. Lysistrata's expression didn't change, but she was thinking about what could the Empress have said that would have made anyone interrupt her. And what was the Emperor so keen on hiding, that a mere prisoner could not hear the information? A guard collected the voting tablets from the jury and gave them to the judge. The High Table, containing the judge, the Emperor, and the Empress, moved their heads together to talk about the final decision on Lysistrata's behalf.

"We have come to the decision," stated the judge, "for the prisoner Lysistrata, who is on her final trial for betraying the Mugendai Kyuuten Empire to a Ningenkai outside of our control, to be punished." Lysistrata ground her teeth together. All that the judge was saying now was just the formal stuff; she just wanted to know her punishment would be. "Her punishment will be to be banished from the Mugendai Kyuuten Empire for an unknown period of time. She will leave immediately." One of the guards (A/n there is always at least two magic workers per guard unit) created a portal. _After he went to talk to the High Table_, thought Lysistrata, _So they want me someplace in particular._

"Oof!" She got winded as she was shoved into the portal. With a quick flash of light, the prisoner, her guards, and the portal, had all disappeared.

"What are we going to do about monitoring her?" the Emperor asked his wife, sighing.

"We shall tell Ryoujin to do it."

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_On Earth in Tokyo, Japan:_

A portal opened. Lysistrata and the guards assigned to her tumbled out from it. Well, only Lysistrata tumbled, the guards didn't. They were on the edges of a forest, or maybe a park. Nothing else was around, just the trees with their leaves and some plants. _This looks REALLY familiar_, thought Lysistrata, _Uhn! Couldn't someone help me up?_

_You there? It _**is**_ you!_ The mind-voice that called to her was also very familiar.

_Shit! No! Go Away! NOW!_ She yelled back through the connection, and severed it. She knew where she was, and she trembled. _They planned this! Oo! Why I didn't see it from the start, I have no-_ she was cut off in the middle of ranting to her self as a guard smacked her over her head. She couldn't help it, she yelped. Those gloves were _hard_! Especially if you were not expecting it. Some of the other guards chuckled. A few even laughed. _Which is a big thing to a guard, they're supposed to have no emotions. Like living stone_, Lysistrata thought evilly. For that she got smacked again.

"We have orders from the Empress to record all of your spoken-thoughts, also known as mind-speaking, and we are allowed to listen to your thoughts to keep you domesticated until told other wise."

_I'm not some sort of wild animal that you have to tame to be your pet!_ She paused for a moment to think. _Why are you so literal? _she wailed, _It's so hard to argue with a literal person and win._

Static came from one of the guards speakers, the Emperor was calling. The guard, the same one who had talked to the High Table, walked away to hear what he was being told over his speaker. A short while later he came back, with a needle. A huge one. Lysistrata gulped, she knew that needles meant something bad was about to happen.

"Grab her," he said, and instantly Lysistrata was sitting upright with her arms pinned to her sides. The guard yanked up Lysistrata's right sleeve, her eyes watered because of the pain. Some of the cuts had been reopened when the sleeve had moved. "Your name is no longer Lysistrata," the guard with the needle told her, "On behalf of your exile, your name in your new life is Shika." The needle was injected into her arm. The pain was immense, but she would not allow herself to scream, she just couldn't! And then, it all went black.

"Up! The Emperor says that our mission is done. We shall return to the Mugendai Kyuuten to receive further orders. No one is needed to stay with the outcast, Ryoujin has already been informed." Some of the guards shivered, they would not want to meet Ryoujin, especially in the outcast's position. The portal was opened and they all stepped through, leaving behind an unconscious girl, lying on the forest ground.

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**A/n:**

Me: So, a new story. I hope you liked It. Frankly, I hope you'll-

The Review Button: Press me!

Me: Shush! Not now! As I was saying-

The Review Button: Press me!

Me: Arg! Anyway, I _wanted _to say, that if I don't get enough reviews, I'm not going to continue. Which would be a shame since I have almost the entire plot set out. So, hit it button!

The Review Button: PRESS ME!


	2. Chapter 2

**I don't own anyone in Tokyo Mew Mew, but everyone else is MINE! Mwahahaha!** Okay, sorry about that,

Mint: You should be

Be quiet! Anyway, here is what goes on with reviews. I dedicate this chapter to everyone for reviewing and for making me feel all happy, enough to write this chapter. I would put all of your names in print, but that would take me forever. SORRY!

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_On Earth, Tokyo, Japan in a park:_

Kish was sitting in a tree, whistling. Normal, right? Not really. Instead of thinking of how to destroy the Mew Mews, he was just relaxing, since there was none of that on the ship. He sighed, thinking about how peaceful life was in his childhood. Sure, there was hair pulling, but no deadly missions or "everyone's counting on you" stuff. There was also that weird exchange trip, ant that was when he met her. As if just thinking about Lysistrata could bring her here, he heard her mind voice. _Uhn! Couldn't someone help me up?_

_You there? _He asked her, uncertain,_ It _**is**_ you!_ He felt happier then he had in weeks. Until…

_Shit! No! Go Away! NOW!_ She yelled back at him, and severed the connection.

_Odd, _Kish thought to himself, _she only swears when something going on is REALLY bad. Hmm, I'd better see-_ he stiffened. Now he felt it. Another magical presence. _Mugendai Kyuuten guards! What are they doing here? Oh-no…a portal! I'll go there as soon as they're gone. Right…now! _The portal had left, and he raced away.

* * *

When he reached the clearing where Lysistrata was, he saw that she was a utter mess. Carefully, he picked her up and teleported both of them to the ship.

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_On the aliens' ship:_

"KISH! WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN?"

"Pai, shut up, I need to be alone." Lucky for Kish, Pai was yelling through the monitor. Opening the door a crack, Kish stuck his head through. No one was there. He quickly trotted down the hall. He was heading to the part of the ship that was never used. The door slid open automatically. Inside the room there was a bed, a desk, a chair, and a bureau. Kish crossed the room and gently laid Lysistrata down on the bed. He frowned for a moment, then left the room. He teleported to the medical storage room. Before Pai could yell at him through the monitor, Kish grabbed some ointment and bandages, then teleported back to Lysistrata. Once he was there, Kish realized that there was a problem. Her clothing would get in the way of the ointment. He sighed, then blushed a bright red, shaming the color crimson. Taking out his knife, Kish carefully cut off the sleeves of Lysistrata's shirt. He then proceeded to cutting her pants' legs off. Kish sighed again thinking, _She's going to kill me for this,_ cut Lysistrata's shirt midway up her rib cage. His face still bright red, Kish spread the ointment on the injuries, and then bound them. That done, Kish teleported back into the storage room, returned the ointment and bandages, and hurried over to the control room.

* * *

Pai was fuming when Kish got into the control room. "WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN? I'VE BEEN LOOKING FOR YOU ALL OVER THE PLACE! WE NEED YOU HERE! WHY DID YOU THINK THAT IT WAS OKAY TO BLOW US OFF LIKE THAT? I WOULDN'T BE SURPRIZED IF YOU WERE ON _EARTH_! FLIRTING WITH THAT STUPID MEW!"

"She's not stupid!" protested Kish, "And I wasn't with her. I was looking for some _quiet_!"

"WELL YOU COULD HAVE ATLEAST TOLD SOMEONE WHERE YOU WERE GOING, BUT _NOO-OO!_ THAT MUST BE BENETH YOU, KISH!"

"Alright," said Kish in a defeated tone of voice, "What's wrong?"

"WHAT'S WRONG?" hollered Pai, "I'LL TELL YOU WHAT'S WRONG! I HAD THE PERFEECT PLAN. IT WAS PERFECT! AND THEN TART COMES IN AND LO AND BEHOLD! HE POINTS OUT THE MOST OBVIOUS PROBLEM. THEN I COULDN'T STRANGLE HIM BECAUSE HE SAID THAT IT WASN'T _HIS_ FAULT I OVERLOOKED THE STUPID MISTAKE! AND THAT YOU, KISH, WOULD BE VERY UPSET IF I KILLED HIM! SO IT'S ALL YOUR FAULT!" Pai stomped off, calling over his shoulder, "Go see Tart, _he'll_ explain the _almost_ perfect plan!"

Shaking his head, Kish walked away from the control room. As Kish rounded the corner, he saw Tart, who was trying very hard to muffle his laughter. "What did you do?" demanded Kish.

"_I _didn't do anything, it was Pai's fault! He thought that we should kidnap one of the Mews and then destroy her, so then the Mews would be weaker. But then I pointed out to him that we had already tried that. So then he got _really_ mad at me. I didn't mean to get you in trouble Kish," at this point, Tart sniggered again, "but we really just couldn't do the same thing twice!"

"Tart…" said Kish warningly.

"Bye!" called Tart, as he hurriedly ran down the hall.

* * *

Muttering something about irresponsible boys under his breath, Kish went back to Lysistrata's room and sat down in the chair. She was still unconscious, but Kish had nothing better to do, so he sat there, as if that by willing her to get better will cause her to wake up. Hours past and Kish eventually fell asleep. Around the same time, Lysistrata was fighting to wake up.

* * *

She was in darkness. It was pressing all around her, so much that she felt like she couldn't breath. Not knowing what to do, she started walking, groping blindly in the darkness. As she walked, she felt something brush by her. Again, and again she felt it brush her. Suddenly, there was a faint light. Not much, but enough to see by. She could now tell that what was brushing her, were hands. She started to run now, just to get away from the hands. They were pulling at her, trying to make her go to them, but for what, she did not know. Then there were voices. Some she thought that she recognized, others were strange and cold. On she ran, hoping to get away from it all. Too soon, she realized that she had run into a corner; she was trapped! The hands were grapping at her and the voices were calling. She screamed, slashing at the hands. They wanted something from her, and she wouldn't let them have it. Ever.

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Kish woke up to Lysistrata screaming. She was flailing in the bed, tearing the sheets apart, clawing at some invisible foe. He tried to calm her, but she wouldn't rest. Kish called out to Lysistrata, hoping that she would know that he was there. Reaching for her arms in hope to hold her down, Kish accidentally brushed Lysistrata's right shoulder. When Kish touched Lysistrata, she immediately turned on him. Clawing, biting and scratching everything that she could, she attacked him. All the while, Kish tried to hold her down, not moving, letting her hurt him. After some time, Lysistrata stopped fighting, and lay still. Kish let go of her arms, wondering what kind of nightmare Lysistrata must have had, to cause her to act that way. He vaguely remembered some kind of marking on her arm, and wondered if that was what made her react so violently.

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_On Earth:_

_BRI-I-I-I-ING!_ The school bell rang across the courtyard in Tokyo, Japan. Chatting with her friends, Ichigo packed up her school bag. As they were walking home, one of Ichigo's friends asked her, "Aren't you supposed to be at work?"

"Oh drat!" exclaimed Ichigo, "Ryou's going to kill me! I'm SO late!" Running as fast as she could, Ichigo tried to get to the Café in as little time as possible.

As Ichigo burst through the doors of the Café, breathing heavily, she heard Ryou say, "You're late, Ichigo."

"I'm sorry, I forgot that I had to come to work."

"It's a good thing that you did show up," said Keiichiro, "Ryou and I found Red Data energy on the monitor."

"We don't know where it comes from, or what it is, but we believe that there is another Mew in Tokyo. It's your job to find her and have her join you. (A/n Red Data, the thing that makes them Mews, only works with girls.) Listen for anything odd that might be happening. And always investigate together. We don't know how strong she can be, or who's side she's on." And with those last words Ryou turned and headed into the lab, leaving five confused girls, each thinking about what the new girl might behold.

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Me: Yay! Done! Sorry that it took so long, but here it is! Please review, and then I will continue. I don't think that I put enough of a cliffhanger on at the end, put please tell me what you think. So, please listen to the Review Button, and I will give you all cookies!

Review Button: Press Me!


	3. Chapter 3

**Hi everyone! Sorry for keeping you waiting…and for making you wait some more. I accidentally left my story at school, so it's going to take a little longer then I thought. To say "thank you" for bearing with me, I've created this. This is a spoiler's page. No, I am not going to tell you _exactly_ what's going to happen, but I'm going to give you clues…if you can find them. First, I want to tell you a little bit about myself:**

**I'm a person who likes to prove others wrong. I like to read, but I hate it when I can guess what is going to happen about 100 pages before it really does happen. I think that names are important and show something about the person. I learned Greek roots last year, and am learning Latin and French this year. In my opinion, it doesn't really matter what religion you are, but I accept and respect that there are differences in beliefs. I love it when people review, but sometimes find it hard to write, SORRY! I hope that I haven't bored you with my rambling. To make it all worthwhile, I'm now going to show you some scenes that are going to be in the story, or scenes similar to these:

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**

**Ichigo sighed, smiling dreamily as she leaned against the table. The corners of Zakuro's mouth twitched. "Ichigo," she said, silently struggling not to laugh, "You do know that you just kissed a girl."**

"**_WHAT?!?!?!?!?!?_" screamed Ichigo. Zakuro could not help herself; she laughed.

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**

"**You, my dear, are the heir to the throne. _You_ are the next ruler of the Empire." The old woman bowed to the girl in front of her.**

"**No," the girl whispered, "That's not possible."**

"**It's true," said the old man, kneeling next to his wife, "It is time for you to go back to your rightful home, Xela."

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**

**Mint, Pudding, and Lettuce all stopped walking and stared at the person just ahead of them. "Isn't that Masaya?" asked Lettuce, tentatively.**

"**Yes, but Pudding wonders what he is doing here, no na da."**

"**Well, we're going to take him back to Ichigo. I can't believe that he ran off on their date!" exclaimed Mint. Mint ran up to the boy and grabbed his arms. "Come on, Masaya! How come you left Ichigo?"**

"**But – Wait!" the boy spluttered. Pudding ran up and pushed the boy from the back, helping Mint drag him to the park where Ichigo was.**

"**I think that you were very mean to run out on Ichigo," Pudding said, very seriously.**

"**B-but I didn't!"**

"**Sure you didn't," Mint said sarcastically.**

"**I'm very sorry about this," said Lettuce, jogging to keep up.**

"**There she is, no na da!" exclaimed Pudding, depositing the boy in front of Ichigo.**

"**Hmm?" asked Ichigo as she turned around.**

"**We found Masaya for you," said Mint triumphantly, "after he ran out on your date!"**

"**That's not Masaya," said Ichigo, puzzled, "because Masaya is right here."**

"**What?!?" the other girls exclaimed as Masaya walks up behind Ichigo.**

"**Oh!" says Lettuce, with dawning comprehension, turning to face the boy, "You're Hitoshirezu, aren't you?" The boy nodded.**

"**Then why aren't you with Shika?" asked Pudding, jumping up and down.**

"**I was looking for her. Do you know where she is?" The girls exchanged quick glances.**

"**Um…" Ichigo started to say, "I don't know how to tell you this, but…Shika is in the hospital."**

"**_What?_" he asked, disbelieving, "Since when?"**

"**I think that she's been in there for about a week now." Mint stated. Hitoshirezu looked aghast.**

"**Thank you for telling me-" he started, shakily.**

"**Don't bother," said Mint.**

"**Yeah," shouted Pudding, "Just go on and visit her!" He nodded, then set off at a run for the hospital, leaving the others behind.

* * *

**

**Everyone turned to face one of the owners of the Café. There was silence, and then… "_YOU HAVE A DAUGHTER?!?!?!?!?!?_"**

"**Er-"he said, not knowing what to say in response to that.

* * *

**

**"DIE! JUST DIE, WILL YOU?" Ryou poked his head into the kitchen.**

**"Is everything okay?" he asked. Zakuro looked up at Ryou from her spot in the chair. She was clearly amused.**

"**Shika's going after a bug," she stated simply.**

"**And it just…won't…stay…dead!!!!" Shika said, taking another swipe at the bug with a fly swatter. Ryou exited the kitchen, laughing.

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**

**Well, that's all I'm going to show you now, the rest you'll find out when I write the rest of the story. I'm so sorry to make you wait some more, and I hope that this will make you feel less angry.**


	4. Chapter 4

**I don't own TMM, so don't bother asking.** SORRY FOR TAKING SO LONG TO UPDATE!!!! I have 20 stories going on at once, personal life, and school life to deal with; I'm so exhausted!! Wow, I got so many reviews! Thank you all! ((Gives everyone who reviewed a giant triple chocolate chip or sugar cookie and ice cream)) I hope that you enjoy this chapter too!! Woohoo! This chapter goes onto 12 pages in Microsoft Word! I'm so happy! ((Cries tears of joy)) I worked so hard on this; I hope it was worth the wait! Just as a little warning for the future, I'm really sorry if events happen out of order anytime in this story. Please tell me what you think! I'm SO sorry that it took so long to update, I was REALLY busy. Please forgive!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! And now, what you've all been waiting for: CHAPTER THREE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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_On the aliens' ship:_

It had been a week since Kish rescued Lysistrata, and he was wondering yet again about what was causing her to lash out. More and more frequently Kish found Lysistrata fighting something, but he didn't know what. For possibly the hundredth time, Kish wondered what was on her arm, and why it was so important.

"**_Oh no you don't!!!!!! _**" yelled Pai. Tart came running around the corner, ran into Kish, and knocked them both to the floor.

"Sorry, Kish" said Tart breathlessly, "Gotta go. Otherwise Pai will kill me for sure, this time!"

"How many times have I told you **not** to glue Pai's important drawers shut?" demanded Kish.

"But I didn't know that they were important!" protested Tart. Just then, Pai rounded the corner, looking _extremely_ mad. "Eep!" exclaimed Tart, jumping up and running away as if he had been electrocuted. Kish chuckled as Pai stormed after Tart. He felt bad for Tart. Tart was just bored after a week of doing nothing. You see, Pai's plan for demolishing the Mew Mews could not be put into action, so the aliens were confined to their ship. While Kish used the time to help heal Lysistrata, it also meant that Tart and Pai would have more opportunities to find out about her, especially with Tart running all over the ship. Sighing, Kish stood up and walked into Lysistrata's room. Kish smiled. A lot of her injuries were healed and she seemed to be making a lot of improvement, but one thing bothered Kish. Her wounds were healing nicely, but he was wondering if there was something that was preventing her to wake up; she should have woken up by now. Kish crossed the room and sat down in the chair facing Lysistrata. Gently, he laid his hand on her forehead, then immediately jumped up. Lysistrata had a raging fever. Exasperated, Kish wondered why he hadn't realized this earlier, went to see if there was any medicine.

"Kish, what have you been doing?" demanded Pai.

"Wha-, nothing!" lied Kish.

"I was just curious as to why our monitor was picking up tracking waves. Someone is trying to find Red Data, and I want to know why."

"Why would I know something like that?" asked Kish, truly innocent and curious.

"I have no idea," snapped Pai, "But if you find out anything, be sure to let me know right away, okay?"

"Sure," replied Kish. And with that, the two aliens walked down to different ends of the corridor, each wondering about the strange signals. Pai was wondering if this could help with his plan, and Kish was wondering if it had anything to do with Lysistrata.

* * *

When Kish went back to Lysistrata's room, she seemed slightly better. After giving her the medicine, Kish sat down to think. After a while he realized that most of his questions had to do with what was on Lysistrata's arm. Inside his head, Kish argued with himself about whether or not he should take a look at what was bugging her. Convincing himself that he had a right to know, Kish carefully unwrapped the bandage on Lysistrata's arm, trying not to disturb her. On Lysistrata's right arm, right below her shoulder, was a strange symbol. It had two lines that curved at the base away from each other. They then doubled back to join together. Kish let out his breath in a hiss as he realized it was a Mew Mew mark. He knew that it meant that they would have to fight each other soon, but he wouldn't tell Lysistrata that right when she woke up. She wouldn't appreciate it. In fact, she would probably punch him for his inconsideration. That thought got a chuckle out of Kish, but it turned into a sigh at the end. Filled with dread, Kish rewrapped Lysistrata's bandage and sat back down. Now all he could do was wait.

* * *

Something was trying to find her, but she wouldn't let them. There was no way that she would be caught that easily. Not after what happened last time. She had sworn that it would never happen again. Panic flooded through her. Had they found out where she was hiding? Will they come again to destroy her? Images of those horrible nights came back to her. These scenes strengthened her resolve. Although there was the possibility that the searcher was going to help her, there was no way she would fall for the same trick twice. No matter what the cost, she must never let anyone find her. She put up every defense system that she could think of, even though her body protested. She could tell that she had made herself sick, but right now, she didn't care. The consequences could wait until the danger had passed. None of that mattered anymore. She would do anything to stay hidden. _Anything.

* * *

_

Kish suddenly woke up. He looked over at Lysistrata and saw that her breathing was slowing, slowing, and then stopped. Frantic, Kish jumped out of his chair and leaned forward to confirm whether or not she was actually breathing. Kish let out a sigh of relief. Lysistrata's breathing hadn't stopped; it had just slowed down to a rate that would be alarming to anyone else. However, Kish was only slightly worried. He recognized the pattern from when he was younger. Lysistrata had put herself into a sort of meditation that only she could exit. It was a way of sealing the soul off from the normal world, so that it could be protected. What worried Kish, was how Lysistrata was going to get back, and what caused her to do it. Standing for a moment in unease, Kish decided that there was not anything that he could do to help her. Shrugging, Kish slumped into his chair and went back to sleep.

* * *

Kish awoke with a start, promptly slamming his head against the back of the chair he had been sleeping in. A blaring horn was resounding throughout the ship. Groggily, Kish floated down to where Pai was in the control room. When Kish got there, he saw that Tart was also there, looking puzzled in front of a very smug looking Pai. "Now that you are all assembled," began Pai, "I have an important announcement to make. It is now the perfect time to attack the Mews. Now, Kish, you are going to go in an opposite direction from Tart, and you both will provide a distraction in the form of attacking the city of Tokyo, Japan. Meanwhile, I will be setting up the final project. When you see a purple flare of light, that is your signal to desert your posts and teleport towards me. Once you are with me, I shall explain the plan further. Any questions?"

"What should we do to distract the Mew Mews?" asked Kish.

"Anything that you have to do. Any other probing questions?"

"Yeah," said Tart abruptly, "Why do you have to talk so…so…prim and official?"

"Never you mind," retorted Pai, "Now let's go!"

"What?!? Right now?" asked Kish, aghast.

"Yes, now. Hurry up, I'm leaving," replied Pai while teleporting. Tart followed suit, leaving Kish alone in the control room, looking very much like a goldfish out of water. _Great!_ thought Kish, snapping his mouth shut with a jerk, _Exactly what I need, a mission while Lysistrata's still sick._ Sighing, Kish teleported to earth, hoping that the battle would at least be short.

* * *

_On Earth:_

Groaning, Ichigo stumbled into the Café and plopped herself down into one of the chairs. She promptly crossed her arms on the table, laid her head down, and fell asleep. All of the other girls crowded around Ichigo, staring at her. "Do you think that she's okay?" asked Lettuce.

"Well, she's not going to get any work done if she keeps on lying there like that," said Mint while prodding Ichigo in a futile attempt to wake her up.

An alarm sounded and Ichigo jumped up screaming, "AAAAAAAAIIIIIIIEEEEE!!!"

"I'm glad that _something_ managed to wake her up," muttered Mint.

"Girls, you have to transform immediately. There are two different alien attacks," Keiichiro said breathlessly, poking his head into the workroom of the Café.

"Right!" said Ichigo, "We're on it." With those words, Ichigo ran outside with the other girls right behind her.

"Oof!" said Ichigo as she bumped into something. It was Masaya. Ichigo stayed back while the other girls ran ahead.

"Hey, Ichigo, where are you going in such a hurry?"

"Oh, um," stammered Ichigo, not quite sure what to say, "We, uh, you see, we're…picking a special order for the Café!"

"Do you mind if I come with you then?" asked Masaya.

"No! I mean, that is, it's supposed to be a secret, so if you came with us, then that would ruin it. Sorry!" Ichigo mumbled, hoping that Masaya would leave so that she could transform into a Mew Mew, but not think that she was being an idiot or dumping him.

"That's okay. Maybe we can hang out another time. See you later!" Masaya called, waving over his shoulder.

"'Bye!" Ichigo called after him, feeling a mix of relief and disappointment. As soon as Masaya disappeared around the corner, Ichigo dashed after her friends, wishing that she didn't have to lie to her boyfriend all the time. Before she could reach them however, she heard the last voice she ever wanted to hear.

"Hello, Ichigo! Missed me?" asked Kish as he landed in front of her.

"In your dreams, loser!" Ichigo yelled at him, "What to you want?"

"To tell you something," Kish said with a smile.

"What?" Ichigo asked warily.

Kish's smile broadened. "Look up."

"Wha- AAAAAA!" screamed Ichigo, covering her head with her hands. The building to the left of Ichigo was falling, and through the holes came gigantic kirema anima spiders. Ichigo screamed again as she was buried underneath huge slabs of concrete. Luckily, the concrete fell in such a way that they did not hit Ichigo, but they created a sort of cave or room. However, all around here were concrete slabs, so she was stuck. "Aaaaah! Help me, someone!!"

"Sorry, kitten," said Kish, "But your friends are all gone. There's no one who can hear you." What Ichigo couldn't see, due to the fact that she was trapped in her little concrete home, was that Kish was scowling; he didn't like doing this to Ichigo, it hurt him to have to do it. But he mustn't let her know that. If she knew, she would be able to persuade Kish to stop attacking, and then he'd be in BIG trouble. Sighing slightly, Kish turned to watch some of his kirema anima spiders start to crawl down the side of the quickly deteriorating building. The rest of the spiders were destroying the building. Kish couldn't help smiling. It was one of his strokes of brilliance to make kirema animal spiders. Most humans are afraid of spiders and spiders are amazingly strong. Kish remembered something Lysistrata had once told him.

_Flashback:_

_Lysistrata ran up to Kish, taking his arm and pulling him. "Come on Kish!" she called, "I want to show you something cool!!"_

"_What?" asked Kish, running after Lysistrata with his arm still in her grasp._

"_Look down here," responded Lysistrata, crouching down next to a tree's roots. There was a little hole in the fork made by two of the roots and there was a spider web over the top of the hole, like a little roof. Kish couched down next to her, not understanding._

"_But Lysie," said Kish, sounding perplexed, "It's just a spider's web."_

"_Watch this!" responded Lysistrata. She picked up some of the dried pine needles from the forest floor. They were a coppery color, similar to Lysistrata's hair. Slowly, she poured the needles onto the web and they stuck there. It was as if she was adding thatch to the web roof. Kish picked up a handful of needles too, and proceeded to help Lysistrata make a tower on top of the spider web. When the tower was about five inches high, the web collapsed, the needles falling into the hole, filling it up. "Do you remember what we learned about that strongest metal?" Lysistrata asked Kish while dusting off her hands._

"_Yeah, it is called steel," Kish replied, "Why?"_

"_Because spider's silk, the stuff spiders use for their webs, is stronger then steel. So the web we were just playing with, if you hade the exact same web, but made out of steel, it wouldn't have been able to have held all of those pine needles," Lysistrata informed him._

"_He-ey!" whined Kish, pretending to be upset, "You just tricked me into doing school type work!" Lysistrata laughed._

"_One little experiment can't kill you. C'mon! You're still it!" Lysistrata called as she started to run away from him._

"_That's not fair!" Kish yelled at her retreating back. She just laughed again as he started running after her so that he could tag her._

_End Flashback:_

Kish growled slightly and shook his head to clear it. He shouldn't have been thinking about her, he should have been concentrating on what was going on. With a small yelp of surprise, Kish quickly flew up into the air. The minute it took him to relive that memory was all the spiders needed to demolish the building and to start heading towards him.

_I should be more careful,_ thought Kish, his heart still racing, _that spider was about to **eat** me! _The other reason that Kish chose spiders, was because of their ability to reproduce in large numbers. If he gave his kirema anima an hour, there would be hundreds of them, maybe even thousands! Of course, only if the Mew Mews did not destroy them first.

"Hi-ya!" yelled a muffled voice. Kish turned to look at the pile of rubble. A small crack appeared at the top of the pile of concrete. There was only one layer of concrete slabs in the top right hand corner, so Ichigo was trying to get free from there. As Kish watched, a gloved hand came into view.

_Oops!_ thought Kish, _She must have transformed while I was thinking._

"I wouldn't do that if I were you, kitten."

"And why not?" snapped Ichigo.

"Because of them," Kish stated simply, waiting for Ichigo to understand.

"Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!" shrieked Ichigo as one of the spiders stuck it's pincers into the hole Ichigo had made, and proceeded to try and eat her. Ichigo tried to move away from the pincers, but didn't get very far since she could barely move.

"Ichigo!" called a voice from not to far away. Kish cursed and backed into the shadows of one of the remaining buildings, waiting. "Ichigo, where are you?" the voice called out to her. The spider lunged at Ichigo again. Ichigo screamed, retreating as far back as she could in her confined space. The hole she had created was big enough for her hand to get through and for the spider's pincers, but too small for her to get her weapon out to attack it. She was defenseless. Suddenly, the spider let out a squeal, its pincers retreating. Ichigo stayed were she was, too afraid to move.

_What if they're fighting over which one will kill me?_ Ichigo thought in a sudden panic, nearly in a state of hysteria, _It shouldn't have to end this way!!_

"Ichigo, can you hear me?" called the voice again, very close to her.

"Yes, I'm alright! Thank goodness you came!" Ichigo replied, tears starting to well up in her eyes.

"No," said the voice, "Thank Keiichiro, he was the one who noticed your distressed signals on the screen."

"RYOU!" yelled Ichigo, annoyed.

"Arg! Stupid spider! Take that!" yelled Ryou, "Hey, Keiichiro. Did you manage to persuade Becky to lend us her Texas flyswatter?"

"Very funny, Ryou, but no. However, I have been able to get this," said Keiichiro, handing Ryou a gun. "It will have effects similar to Ichigo's when she takes on kirema animas."

"Thanks, Keiichiro, I owe you one," said Ryou, starting to shoot the spiders.

"Miss Ichigo, are you alright?" asked Keiichiro, walking over to the pile of concrete and talking through the hole.

"So far," responded Ichigo, "but I'm trapped. Help me!"

"I'll try to get you out as soon as possible," Keiichiro told her, "Ryou! Get my back. I'm going to try and free Ichigo."

"Al-" Ryou started to say, but Kish interrupted him as he emerged from the shadows.

"Never! I won't let you take her!"

"Kish!" snarled Ryou. "Ah!" he shouted as a spider bit his leg. Ryou quickly shot the spider. "Keiichiro, I need help!" Ryou said in a slightly less-then-calm voice as Kish summoned his dragon swards. Keiichiro stopped pushing the concrete and turned as Kish charged Ryou and three spiders came barreling towards him. He froze in a sudden indecision, should he help Ryou, or save himself? Two of the spiders exploded right before they reached Keiichiro, helping him make up his mind. Ryou ducked and Kish just brushed the top of his head with his swords. Kish did, however, manage to chop Ryou's gun in two. Keiichiro quickly picked up part of a metal pole. It was long, thin, and very sharp. The other spider that hadn't been blown up proceeded to attack Keiichiro. It turned slightly and shot some of its silk at Keiichiro; he barely was able to dodge it.

"Ichigo!" Keiichiro called, "You're going to have to try to get out on your own."

"Yeah," shouted Ryou, frantically searching for a weapon as Kish soared past him, landing on the wall, "We're kind of fighting for our lives, here." Kish had his legs bent, ready to attack. All he needed to do was to push his legs and he would spring from the wall, straight at Ryou. Everyone, except Keiichiro and the spider he was battling, froze and listened to a new sound; the sound of running footsteps.

"Ribbon Mint Echo!" shouted Mint, running into battle. The spider Keiichiro was facing turned back to normal and Masha swooped in and ate the parasite alien. Keiichiro allowed the pole he was holding to slip to the ground.

"Thank you, Mint" said Keiichiro breathlessly, his hands on his knees and his head down. Lettuce, Pudding, and Zakuro ran over and started to help destroying the kirema animas. Kish was still on the wall. Seeing his chance, he sprang from the wall, intent on attacking Ryou.

"Ryou, look out!" screamed Lettuce, who was the only one to see Kish speeding towards Ryou. Ryou turned, just before Kish was upon him. There was a blinding flash of light, and both Ryou and Kish disappeared.

"Where did they go?" asked Pudding, still fighting.

"I don't know," replied Keiichiro, picking up his pole and charging back into the fray, "Can one of you girls help Ichigo? She's trapped in that pile of concrete."

"I'm on it," said Zakuro, turning from the fighting to go help Ichigo. "Ichigo, are you okay?"

Ichigo groaned. Zakuro figured that Ichigo had fainted from all the stress. Silently, Zakuro drew her weapon and started attacking the concrete slabs, hoping to weaken them. With a quiet rumble, parts of the slabs started to fall, clearing the way to Ichigo. "Aaaah!" screamed Ichigo as she woke up, trying to curl into a ball so that a piece of concrete that was falling wouldn't hit her. Zakuro put away her weapon; it was too dangerous to continue with it. Ichigo could get killed.

Tart teleported right behind Mint and shouted, "BOO!" as loudly as he could in her ear. Mint shrieked and fell down, giving the spider she was facing a chance to attack her. Laughing, Tart teleported away. Right before the spider could reach Mint, it blew up, just as Kish and Ryou both fell with a loud _THUD!_ onto the concrete pile. Zakuro backed up with the smallest smile imaginable of satisfaction on her face. When the two boys had landed, they had knocked aside the rest of the concrete slabs that were imprisoning Ichigo. The only bad thing was that Kish was now sitting on Ichigo and Ryou had fallen right above her head. It did not take long for Ichigo to figure this out.

"Eek! Get off me, you freak!" Ichigo yelled at Kish, pushing him off her. "Thanks for helping me, Zakuro," Ichigo said more calmly, standing up. Zakuro just nodded, then ran off to fight the spiders. Kish flew up into the air with his torso bent, his arms and head hanging limply. It looked like he was trying to touch his toes. When he reached the top of the almost destroyed building, he sat down and sighed. Tart teleported next to him, and they talked while the Mew Mews and Keiichiro were fighting.

"Why did you come here, Tart?" asked Kish in a defeated tone of voice.

"The Mew Mews defeated my plant kirema animas, so I followed them when they ran away."

"Did Pai give the signal yet?"

"No. I don't know why though. Do you think he's okay?"

"Probably," said Kish, more then a little irked. Why hadn't Pai done his part of the mission? Was Pai deserting them? With one last sigh, Kish stood up and hitched a smirk upon his face. The Mew Mew crew had defeated all the spiders and they were now looking up at Kish. No one noticed as Ryou woke up, too weak to stand up.

"AHAHAHAHA!" Kish suddenly laughed, "You think that you have defeated us? Well, you are wrong! There is one more spider left and in exactly five minutes, it will explode, thus creating over a hundred new spiders! HAHAHAHA!!"

"No!" yelled Ichigo.

"This can't be!" cried Lettuce.

"You don't have much time," Ryou said weakly, "Don't waste more of it by talking."

"He's right," muttered Zakuro, "Let's split up. We'll cover more ground that way."

"Right!" Ichigo, Pudding, Mint, and Lettuce said at the same time. Before she took off, Zakuro looked over her shoulder and saw the two aliens teleport away.

"I'll stay behind with Ryou," said Keiichiro. Zakuro nodded to show that she understood, and then raced away. Keiichiro looked down at Ryou. He was bleeding from the bite on his leg, and from numerous other wounds all over his body. Kneeling down beside Ryou, his head bowed, Keiichiro watched as Ryou closed his eyes again. Ryou's wounds started to heal all by themselves. Ryou moaned slightly in pain and opened his eyes to look at Keiichiro's shocked face.

"Keiichiro," he said slowly, noticing the man near him, "what happened? I remember Kish attacking me, but what happened after that?"

"You and Kish disappeared," Keiichiro said gently, knowing that it would probably be a huge shock for Ryou. "You came back all covered in cuts and you were unconscious. Kish came back too. Your wounds healed all by themselves right before you woke up."

"Oh. … Wait! I remember something," Ryou muttered, sitting up. "I was in a place where it was all white. Something attacked me. And then…I heard a voice. It was calling… someone."

_Flashback:_

_Ryou couldn't see. He felt something crash into him and he cried out in shock. He heard it growl and turn around. It charged him again and again. Ryou heard a voice say, "**Stop that nonsense.**" And Ryou waited, but nothing attacked him again. "**Ryoujin,**" he heard the voice call. "**Ryoujin…Ryoujin. We need you to respond…Ryoujin, come to us!**" Ryou suddenly felt pain as he had never experienced before. He screamed as the voice faded away. It all went black, and Ryou could remember no more._

_End Flashback:_

"I see," said Keiichiro softly, "I wonder where you were. Do you know who was speaking? Who is Ryoujin? Do you know?" Ryou didn't answer; he just turned and looked away.

After a while he asked, "Why aren't the girls back yet? Keiichiro, there are too many questions. They are making my head spin." Keiichiro nodded, but remained silent, wondering if Ryou knew more then he was letting on. At that very moment, Ichigo came storming back with the rest of the Mew Mews behind her.

"He was lying! There was never another spider! Why that rotten - "

"Of course he was lying!" scoffed Mint, "Did you really expect him to tell the truth?"

"Ryou's better," Zakuro said bluntly. Keiichiro gave a small half smile that no one noticed. There wasn't much that Zakuro did not catch.

"Yay! Ryou is all better now!" said Pudding, jumping up and down with excitement.

"Not completely better," said Keiichiro, "but he should be able to get home." Ryou nodded and pushed himself into a sitting position and slo-o-o-o-owly pulled himself to his feet. He wobbled for a moment; then steadied himself.

"Keiichiro's right. Let's get back to the Café; your work is done here. Good job, Tokyo Mew Mew," Ryou said. The girls and Keiichiro headed back to the Café while Ryou turned around to look back at the rubble, thinking about the voice calling… A breeze blew past Ryou and he shivered, cold, and hurried to catch up with the others; still limping.

* * *

_On the aliens' ship:_

"YOU BAKA!!!!!" **(A/n "baka" means "idiot" in Japanese)**_e heard it growl, and then charge him again. It kept on attacking him, eventhough he couldn't fight back_ screamed Tart when he got back to the ship, seeing Pai sitting calmly in a chair reading. Pai looked up, startled. Tart kept on yelling. "FIRST YOU TELL US TO GO ON AN _IMPORTANT_ MISSION, AND THEN YOU DON'T EVER APPEAR YOURSELF! AFTER YOU SAID YOU WOULD BE THERE!! WITH A SPECIAL SIGNAL!!!"

"I'm _so_ sorry to have deprived you of your chance to see a flash of purple light," Pai said coolly, "but I was busy."

"With what, Pai?" Kish asked menacingly. Pai shrugged and looked back at his book.

"Nothing that will concern you two just now," he said evenly, "Anyway, you had everything under control; there was no need for me." Tart was so mad, Pai and Kish were half surprised that steam was not coming from his ears. Tart made an exasperated noise and stomped out of the room. Kish glared at Pai for another moment before he teleported out the room, not saying a word. After his room was empty, Pai grimaced. _They would never appreciate what I've done,_ thought Pai, _They don't need to know anything until I can get everything set into place, otherwise one of those two will spoil everything! Then all of this work would have been for nothing! I worked for months on this project! _With that thought, Pai put down his book and pulled a drawer in his desk open. Or should I say, tried to. Pai sighed in annoyance; it was this drawer that Tart had glued shut, and he needed to fill out the documents inside before his plan could be set in motion. Abandoning trying to open the drawer, Pai picked up a new sheet of paper, and began to plot. He filled the paper with strange looking runes and a picture of a girl. A girl he should know nothing of.

* * *

Kish teleported to Lysistrata's room when he was sure that Pai was just being his normal mysterious self, and not endangering the mission in any way. If he was, then Kish had to file a report, and make sure that Pai was not going to kill them all. After standing in the doorway for a few moments, Kish sank into the chair by Lysistrata's bed. He thought about the battle that took place a few moments ago. Kish sighed; shaking his head with a slight smile on his face, imagining what Lysie would say if she could have seen him leave for hours without telling her what was going on first.

"I'm sorry," whispered Kish, "I didn't want to leave you here to battle the Mews. To be honest with you, I didn't even want to fight, but, well… I had to. You know what it's like on my planet. Anyways, why were you sent here? Were you caught? I hope not; that could ruin everything. I know that you've worked hard on it. You practically devoted your whole life to this…project. I guess the Empire is actually getting smarter." Unknown to Kish, Lysistrata twitched when she heard Kish talking. Kish kept on rambling on, pretty much talking about everything he could think of, just so then he had an excuse to stay with Lysistrata.

* * *

She could feel the probe moving away. They either were not looking for her, or were giving up. She could go back to the normal world. But… did she want to? She couldn't remember something to live for. All she could remember was the pain and torture of living in secret and being punished, sometimes for no reason. Suddenly, she heard a soft voice. She could not make out the words, but it seemed familiar. She listened harder, twitching in frustration when she couldn't figure out where she had heard the voice before. All of a sudden, she could remember times when she was happy. She remembered that same voice laughing, and laughing with it. She could remember happy days spent outside in the sun. She remembered why she wanted to live. Smiling, she slipped out of her coma and into a normal, untroubled sleep. However, she didn't want to stay asleep for long; she wanted to live.

* * *

Kish continued to talk nonstop about all sorts of random things. For some reason, Kish felt as if he kept on talking, Lysistrata would get better, but if he stopped talking, then she would most likely die, or never wake up. The speakers blared when he was in the middle of a word. Kish glared up at the speakers, wishing they weren't in that room.

Pai's voice came over the speakers, shouting, "The tracking waves have disappeared. Thank you for listening."

"I wish _you'd_ disappear!" Kish heard Tart shout from a part of the ship that was farther away. Kish chuckled. Tart could be funny sometimes, in a childish way, of course. Sighing, Kish stood up to save Tart before Pai could incinerate him. Amused, Kish realized that he was sighing more and more often. Kish shrugged, figuring that he had more reasons to sigh nowadays. Silently, Kish crossed the room to the door. When he was just about to turn the doorknob, Kish looked back at Lysistrata to make sure she was okay. Kish froze, not believing what was right in front of his face. Lysistrata slowly opened her eyes, propped her self up onto her elbows, and blinked.


	5. Chapter 5

* * *

Well, this chapter was a monster to write. I don't know why, it just was. It was supposed to be a filler chapter, but then I needed filler for the filler, and then you just get this. Needless to say, I'm not very happy with it. Ah well.

**I don't own TMM,** and apologize for the long wait. Thank you for your patience; you guys are amazing!

* * *

_In the aliens' ship:_

Kish staggered back against the door behind him. "Wh-wh-wha-what?" he finally managed to gasp. Lysistrata blinked again, then smiled. She opened her mouth, but only a dry rasp came out. She frowned, her eyebrows drawing together in a mix of irritation and concentration as she tried again, staring down into her lap. Still, no sound could come from her lips. Lysistrata whirled her head around to glare at Kish. Kish was sure that if looks could kill, he would be going up in flames by now. To try and show he was innocent, Kish put his hands up in the air, palms flat. It didn't make Lysistrata any less angry. "I didn't do it!" was all Kish could think of saying, "I don't know what caused this!"

Lysistrata raised one eyebrow in a disbelieving look as if to say: _Oh yeah? Prove it!_ Kish thought for a moment, but he had no idea of how to help his friend. He looked over at Lysistrata, and saw that her arms were waving side to side above her lap.

"You need a blanket?" asked Kish, completely perplexed. Lysistrata shook her head, thought for a moment, then cupped her hand into the shape of a "C" and brought it to her lips. "Oh!" Kish said, smacking his forehead in realization, "You need _water_!" All Lysistrata did was nod and roll her eyes.

_Are all boys as stupid as you are?_ Lysistrata jokingly mind-spoke to Kish, her "voice" barely above a whisper and very rough sounding.

"Only after they get scared witless," retorted Kish, grinning. Lysistrata grinned as well, her eyes sparkling.

_You got the witless part right!_ Her mind-voice was rasping into silence as she spoke. Clearly she had not completely recovered from her ordeal.

"Hmph!" Kish said, crossing his arms and pretending to be insulted, "I'm going to go get that water before you make me look like even more of a fool!" Kish left the room as Lysistrata gave a silent laugh. Smiling, Lysistrata closed her eyes and leaned her head back against the pillows.

_Kish hasn't changed much since I last saw him,_ Lysistrata thought, _I wonder if anyone else has?_

* * *

_Location Unknown:_

A beeping noise came from an open laptop. The blue light from the screen was the only thing that penetrated the darkness that surrounded it. The beeping stopped as a pair of hands emerged from the gloom and moved swiftly over the keyboard, typing in different codes and opening different files to try and assess the situation. The chair creaked as its occupant leaned closer to the screen so he could see the sprawling words better. With growing excitement, he typed faster, hoping that what he was looking at was genuine. He would not put it past someone to try and mess up his system or give him a false lead. After all, he was dealing in highly classified and dearly wanted information.

Suddenly, his hands stopped moving as he waited, moving forward so that his face was only a few inches away from touching the screen. Pleased and satisfied, he broke into a grin as he leaned back from the computer and put his hands behind his head. Still smiling, he whispered, "Good morning, Lysie."

* * *

_Earth, Japan:_

"I still can't believe Kish would do that!"

"Get over it already! He's the _enemy!_ Or did you forget that little fact?" Ah, yes. The lovely sound of Ichigo and Mint bickering welcomed Ryou to consciousness as he awoke. Groggily, Ryou figured that he had just fallen asleep for a minute when Keiichiro was making sure that no infections had settled in his leg. Stiffly, Ryou pushed himself off of the bed he was on, and walked over to where the girls were fighting.

"But they aliens have _never_ been this strong before!"

"You're right," said Ryou, walking in to the conversation, "The aliens were stronger this time."

"But we get stronger, too," Zakuro said calmly, "So it's only natural that we expect the aliens to get stronger as well." Ryou nodded in agreement.

"Then how come," Lettuce said slowly, "It only seemed like half an invasion?" Everyone turned to stare at her, surprise evident on their faces. Lettuce blushed.

"She's right!" exclaimed Pudding, turning to face the rest of the group, "No really, listen! There was an attack, Ichigo got separated, but there was no follow up. What happened, no na da?"

"You really _are_ an observant little monkey, aren't you?" asked Ryou. Pudding grinned.

"So, if it was only half an invasion…" Ichigo mused.

"Then maybe their plans got interrupted," cut in Mint. Ichigo glared at her.

"I was going to say that!"

Mint rolled her eyes. "Sure you were."

"So," asked Zakuro, turning to face Ryou and ignoring the fight behind her, "If the alien's plans were interrupted, and we didn't interrupt them, then who, or what, did?" Lettuce gasped.

"Y-you don't think… it might have been that other Mew you were telling us about?"

"It is a possibility, but a slim one. I'll check for any activity flares on my computer," Ryou responded, heading towards the lab in the basement. "In the meantime, keep an eye out for anything unusual." There was silence after he left, broken only by Ichigo and Mint still bickering.

Keiichiro poked his head out of the kitchen, and said, "Would any of you like to try my new cake? It's a modification of a strawberry shortcake." Pudding ran into the kitchen, dragging Lettuce after her. With a final glare, Ichigo followed them.

"That was… interesting," stated Zakuro, pushing her hair out of her face and going into the kitchen. Mint stood, undecided and all alone, in the middle of the Café. Then, she walked purposefully after Zakuro.

* * *

_In the aliens' ship:_

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!"

"Get back here, you!" Kish ducked through the nearest doorway with a glass of water in his hand to escape the stampede. He waited as Pai chased Tart right where Kish had been standing mere moments before. _That was a close one,_ he thought. After a few minutes, when the noises of Pai's stomping and Tart's yelling had all but disappeared, he poked his head outside of the room and looked around. There was no one in sight. Kish stepped into the corridor and flew back to Lysistrata's room. He stopped outside of the door, checked to make sure no one was watching, and entered. Right after he closed the door behind him, Kish froze in his tracks. Lysistrata had gotten up and was now trying to walk around the room. Seeing Kish, she turned and mock-scowled at him.

_You perv! What did you – _she froze mid-word, her eyes wide. Her legs buckled under her as she fell. Darting forward, Kish grabbed her right before she could hit the ground.

"See?" scolded Kish, "That's what you get when you try to get back on your feet after being sick for over a week."

"Thanks," Lysistrata mouthed, taking the glass of water from Kish. Kish carefully set her down and they both sat there on the floor. As she drank, Lysistrata looked sideways at Kish for a moment, then asked in mind speech, _Everything alright?_ He stared right back at her, hesitant to answer. Of course everything was not all right, but he could not burden her with his troubles. At least, not until she got rid of some of her own. Kish could sense that Lysistrata was confused and slightly anxious. He started.

_Well,_ he reasoned to himself, _if I can tell what she's feeling, then she can tell what _I'm_ feeling! So, I need to think of something happy, like…pretty pink ponies. Ew!_ Lysistrata gave a quiet laugh.

"What are you thinking about?" she managed to whisper, unable to keep the amusement out of her voice.

"Hmm?" asked Kish, nonplussed. "Why?"

"You had the most comical look on your face. It looked like the time you downed a whole mug of jumli!"

"How was I supposed to know that it was alcoholic? You were the one who gave it to me!"

"I didn't think that you'd be stupid enough to drink the whole thing!" They grinned at each other. "Ah! Those were the good old days, huh?"

"Yeah. Remember when I convinced Leonidas that the reason our ears were so long was that we were pulled by our ears when we were little?"

"Come on! He didn't _really_ believe you!"

"Uh-huh! So then why did I find him on the first night checking all the rooms to see if there were ear torture devises." Lysistrata chuckled.

"Well, you can't blame him," she said quietly, her voice starting to fade. "Those were… hard times." She grew stony faced. Kish sighed and looked away, his expression somber. Coughing, Lysistrata took another gulp of water. "So, do the others know I'm here?"

Snapped out of his thoughts, Kish replied, "No…no, they don't." Lysistrata nodded and finished the glass of water, putting it down on the floor. She blinked, then looked up at Kish, grinning mischievously.

"Hey - " Her voice faded, so she switched over to mind-speaking. _Do you think you could help me back to the bed? This is kind of an awkward position._ Kish blinked as well. He was holding Lysistrata with her sitting on one of his arms while his other arm was supporting her back in a sort of bridal-style position, except that she was angled so that her feet were on the floor.

"R-right!" Blushing, he quickly picked her up bridal-style. Lysistrata nearly flipped backwards out of Kish's grip. To stop herself from falling, she grabbed Kish's neck in a death grip.

_W-w-w-woah! Give some warning next time!_

"Choking! Not breathing!" Kish managed to say. Lysistrata glared at him, but loosened her hold. She uncrossed one of her hands from around his neck and thwacked him on the back of the head with her glass of water.

_Payback!_

Kish smirked. "Is that so?" He dropped her. Lysistrata gave a little shriek as she fell. Hitting the bed, she stuck out her tongue at Kish.

_That wasn't funny!_

"Oh yes it was!" They both froze as they heard footsteps outside the door. There was a standoff of silence between the person outside the door, and the people within. Slowly, Kish reached over and grabbed Lysistrata's arm.

Before he could teleport, however, Tart called, "Ki-ish! What are you doing?" Lysistrata shook her head and slid his hand off her wrist.

"Umm…nothing!" Kish lied, looking questioningly at Lysistrata.

She mouthed the words, "Make a lot of noise!" Grinning, Kish nodded. He reached over and knocked the side-table to the floor. Quick as a flash, Lysistrata darted under the bed, using the noise of the fall to mask her own movements. Kish swore, and then howled in pain, hopping on one foot as if the table had fallen on it. Lysistrata grabbed the springs of the bed above her, and pulled herself up. Moving her lips silently, she pressed herself as close to the underside of the bad as she could, trying to make herself disappear.

"Kish! _Kish!_ Are you okay?" The door banged open, and Tart rushed in.

"Of course I'm okay! I came in here to change the sheets, and then that darn table fell and landed on my foot!" Tart rolled his eyes.

"You mean that's what all the noise was about? You're such a wimp!" Tart turned to leave, but then his ears twitched. "What else is in here?" Kish froze, dropping his "injured" foot.

"What do you mean, what else is in here?" Tart narrowed his eyes at Kish.

"I know you're hiding something! I bet it's another family of cockroaches, or something." Lysistrata pretended to gag. "Anyways, it is coming from under your bed." Both Kish and Lysistrata froze, barely breathing as Tart crouched down, and peered under the bed. He frowned, and said disappointedly, "There's nothing here. Shame. I can still get you pegged for setting fire to the kitchen."

"_WHAT?!?_" Kish lunged at Tart, but he teleported away just in time, causing Kish to crash into the bed. With a slight squeak, Lysistrata lost her hold and fell onto Kish's outstretched arms, hitting her head on the underside of the bed. He blinked. "Lysie? Are you there?" he whispered.

_What does it look like?_ she snapped in return. _Owww!_

"Lysie," said Kish slowly, gulping, "You're not there." Lysistrata stopped rubbing the side of her head, and stared at Kish in shock.

_You mean… it actually worked?_

"If this is what you were trying to do, then yes, it worked." Lysistrata flickered into view.

_Cool. Didn't expect that charm to work._ Dizzily, she pulled herself onto the bed, muttering, _I'm going to go back to bed. That took more out of me then I thought it would…_

"Fine! Don't expect to ever give me any warning or explanation about stuff like that!" Lysistrata laughed, already half asleep.

_C'mon! It's not like I never told you… _and she was gone. Kish smiled, bonked her lightly on the head, and left, closing the door tightly behind him. As he was standing there, a strange smell wafted by him. He sniffed, puzzled by the arid scent. Kish's eyes widened as he realized what it was, and dashed towards the kitchen.

"_TART!!!_"

* * *

Kish sighed with exhaustion, flopping onto his bed. It had taken _hours_ to clean up the mess Tart had made! Then, he had to explain to Pai that it was all really Tart's fault, and that Tart was just trying to frame him. Of course, Pai had not believed him, and left him to clean up the mess anyways. Kish growled with frustration, putting his hands behind his head. Why did Tart choose now, of all times, to be the noseiest? Smirking, Kish figured it was because Pai had banned him from going on anymore solo missions, so Tart was all upset that he could not see his little monkey-girl.

"Ki-ish!"

Kish moaned, rolling over and pulling the pillow over his head. "What?"

"I'm hungry."

"Go get yourself something to eat, then."

"I can't. Someone set the kitchen on fire."

"That's it!" Kish scrambled out of bed. "You are dead meat, Tart!" Tart screamed, and flew away as fast as he could. Kish was right on his heels, murder in his eyes. A door flew open an inch from Tart's nose. He did not see it until it was too late, and crashed to the floor.

Rubbing his nose, he exclaimed, "Hey! What was that for?"

Kish stepped menacingly behind him. "Humans call it karma."

"Eep!" Tart stood and tried to run away, but Pai grabbed him by the elbow.

"What's this I hear about setting the kitchen on fire?"

Tart laughed nervously. "Well, you see…" he gulped. "I'm gonna die, aren't I?"

Pai rolled his eyes. "Cut the drama. But, yes, you are."

Kish raised an eyebrow as Tart screamed in horror. "Well, isn't that blunt?"

Pai glanced coolly at Kish before saying, "My apologies for forcing you to clean the kitchen --"

"Thank you!" exclaimed Kish, surprised.

"—are not withstanding. I'm sure you deserved it for something." Kish slumped against the wall as Pai carried Tart kicking and screaming into his room.

"Should've known better than to think he'd apologize," Kish muttered sourly, walking aimlessly down the hallway. "Wonder what I should do now?" He strolled into one of the computer labs, the large monitors built into the walls of the room. All the screens had numbers flashing across their faces; columns of information moving faster than the eye could track. A steady stream of whirring noises and beeps filled the room.

Walking towards the back of the room, Kish saw that one computer sat still, numbers frozen in their tracks. Curious, Kish leaned forward, trying to make heads or tails of what he was seeing. He leant back with a sigh. On the computer screen was the last message they received from their home planet, sent months ago. They were too far away now for accurate communication. Homesickness hit him like a physical blow to the stomach. Quickly, he left the room, trying to leave the pain behind him as well.

* * *

_Earth, Japan:_

"AAAAIIIIEEEE!" screamed Ichigo, fighting to escape her cocoon of blankets. Thrashing about, she just managed to fall out of bed and land very ungracefully on the floor with a loud thud. "Ow!" she moaned, rubbing her elbows. She pouted, crawling out of the tangle of blankets, leaning against the side of her bed.

"Ichigo? Are you alright?" Her mother's voice wafted up the stairs, sounding concerned.

"I'm fine, mom! I just had a bad dream!" Ichigo shouted back, adding under her breath, "I think."

"Did the thunder wake you, honey?" As if to emphasize her mother's words, a loud clap of thunder blossomed. Surprised, Ichigo squeaked, clapping her hands over her cat ears. Tail twitching behind her, she glanced fearfully out the window. Outside was dark, even though it was morning.

Struggling to her feet, Ichigo called down the stairs, "Mom, is there school today?"

"Of course not, honey! There's no school on Sundays!"

Ichigo sighed with relief. Running across the hall into the bathroom, hands still over her ears, she kicked the door shut behind her. She looked in the mirror at her reflection, eyes wide, finally releasing her ears. There was not much to see. Just her regular old self looking back at her, complete with cat ears and tail.

Splashing water on her face, Ichigo tried to calm herself down. There was another crack of thunder. Ichigo jumped, then swore as she hit her head on the faucet. Glaring angrily, she rubbed the back of her head. A pair of eyes looked back at her from the mirror. Startled, she whirled around, ready for an attack. There was no one there. Cautious, Ichigo looked back into the mirror, but all she saw was her bathroom. Severely creeped out, Ichigo started brushing her teeth.

Half an hour and a wardrobe change later, Ichigo ran down the stairs and into the kitchen. "Did I miss breakfast?"

"You're just on time!" her mother replied, setting a plate down in front of her.

Diving into her food, Ichigo listened as her parents talked about the recent global events. Nothing interested her, so she decided to ignore them, instead wondering if Masaya would be free. But would he want to go out on a date on such a rainy day? As if to accentuate that thought, there was a double clap of thunder. Ichigo's parents looked over as they heard the rattling of a plate. Ichigo's plate rocked on its edge, her chair was shoved back, and she was nowhere to be seen.

"Ichigo?" The table rattled as there was another clap of thunder. "Honey, come out from under the table."

Flushed, Ichigo pulled herself up from under the table with help from her chair. "S-sorry," she stammered, relieved her parents had not seen her ears or tail. She had to complain to Ryou about how annoying it was being part cat! Wait, that was right! Ichigo groaned.

"What is it, darling?"

"I've still got work today!"

"Even on a day like this? That boy pushes you too hard! You should stop hanging around him!" her dad protested, slamming his fist onto the table, and then shaking it in pain.

"Sweetie, you know this job means a lot to Ichigo! She needs some independence in her life," her mom countered, wrapping her arms around his neck. "Remember when we first met, and --"

"Mom! Dad! Uh, I'm done eating, and work doesn't start until noon, so I'm gonna be in my room," Ichigo interjected. She raced back to her room, leaving her parents in a world of their own. Rolling her eyes, she thought about how annoying they could be. Still, they both loved each other a lot. Would she and Masaya be like that one day? Ichigo blushed, giggling to herself.

Crossing the room, she sunk into her desk chair, pulling her journal towards her. Rereading her last entrée, a frown crossed her face. She wrote it a few days ago, after the talk in the café about how strong the aliens were getting. Scowling, Ichigo remembered how Ryou had told her to stop pretending to act smart when she tried to act serious about the situation. He could be so infuriating! Just because he always knew everything did not mean that others could not as well.

Nodding once, she decided that was what she was going to write about next: how much Ryou annoyed her. Spurred by her recent memories of taunts and snide remarks, Ichigo feverishly wrote in her journal, not even noticing as the storm increased outside. Time passed unchecked, as page after page filled with complaints.

Ichigo paused as her room was lit by a garish light, bracing herself for the inevitable noise that accompanied it. The boom still took her by surprise, causing her to jump and rattle her desk. A small fuzz-ball fell out of a bag at her feet, growing in size as it rolled across the floor. Masha floated off to floor to hover at Ichigo's ear. He chirped, concerned.

"I'm alright, Masha. It's just that the noise startles me," Ichigo soothed, cradling Masha in her hands.

Suddenly, he struggled against her grasp, calling, "Alien alert! Alien alert!"

Ichigo sat bolt upright in her chair. "Where, is it?" Masha flew from her hands, and out her bedroom door. Ichigo scrambled after him, panicked that her parents might see him. Masha flew downstairs, Ichigo close behind.

The lights flickered, and then went out with an exceptionally loud clap of thunder. Ichigo froze in terror at the foot of the stairs, cat eyes adjusting to the sudden lack of light. Swooping back to Ichigo, Masha nuzzled her elbow comfortingly, and then darted ahead. Tentatively, Ichigo stepped forward, following Masha towards the front door. She could hear her parents complaining in the next room.

Placing her hand on the door, Ichigo whispered, "Is this it?"

Masha nodded vigorously, giving one last quiet chirp of, "Alien alert!" before he shrunk to his mini-size, and hid in Ichigo's pocket. Flickering, the lights came back on. Ichigo stood terrified with her hand on the doorknob.

The doorbell rang. Ichigo jumped, accidentally knocking against the door with her hand.

"Ichigo, is that you?"

"Who'd be outside in this storm?"

"Honey, could you open the door, please?"

Hand trembling, Ichigo opened the door, pendant clutched in her other fist. She stood, dumbstruck at what she saw. "What the heck?!?"

* * *

_In the aliens' ship:_

After a while, Kish wandered back to Lysistrata's room. There was not anything else for him to do, really. Besides, she was one of his childhood friends. Maybe being with her would help ease the sudden homesickness.

"Aw, shit," he said as he entered. Lysistrata's breathing was ragged, and her face was flushed. Kish put his hand on her forehead, and yanked it back from the sudden heat. "The medicine must have reacted badly!" he groaned, panicking. He did not know how to treat a sick person! And if he asked Pai, he would want to know why he was asking, and that would mean telling Pai about Lysistrata. No, there had to be something else he could do. Right now, however, he had to make do with what little knowledge he had.

"Uh, um, towels! Right, sick people always have wet towels on their heads!" He teleported into the bathroom, grabbed a towel, drenched it in water, and teleported back. "Nnn! There's too much water in it!" he moaned. Teleporting back into the bathroom, Kish wrung the towel over the sink. Deciding to be fully armed, Kish wet two other towels as well.

By the time he returned, arms full of wet towels, Lysistrata was tossing fitfully, moaning in her sleep. Rushing to the bed, Kish dropped all the towels on her head, burying her. He relaxed slightly, pleased that she had stopped moving.

"Ah!" he cried, panic back in full force. "She's gonna suffocate!" He slipped his arms under the towels, and hauled them up. Staggering slightly, he dropped them on the floor, having a newfound appreciation for how heavy water could make things. Carefully picking up the first towel, he folded it into a small rectangle, and gently placed it on Lysistrata's forehead.

"That looks about right," he remarked, pulling the chair over to the bed so he could sit. Worried, he watched his friend as she slept, her breath getting increasingly ragged. Kish put his hand on the towel, alarmed that it was already warm. He pulled it off, letting it fall to the floor as he folded a new towel. Placing it on Lysistrata's forehead, he waited until that one too needed changing.

All too soon, Kish ran out of fresh towels. He teleported into the bathroom, and soaked his armful of towels. Just as he was about to leave, someone knocked on the door.

"Kish! What are you doing?" Pai called.

"Why don't you leave me alone!" Kish retorted, struggling to keep his hold on the soggy towels. Before Pai could answer, Kish teleported back to Lysistrata's room. He dropped his armful next to his chair, dismayed. Lysistrata had only gotten worse while he was gone. In addition, he could hear Pai storming down the hallway to his hiding place.

Quickly, Kish pulled out a mirror, staring into it. He pictured Ichigo in his mind, and what he knew of her house. The mirror changed, no longer reflecting the room Kish was in, but showing a girl with bright red hair, wearing strawberry pajamas in a bathroom glaring at him. Her eyes changed to shock as the image disappeared. So Ichigo was home, then. That would have to do. Worried, Kish pulled Lysistrata into his hold, and teleported away.

* * *

_Earth, Japan:_

Rain fell like bullets, slicing Kish's skin. The tree he was in offered little protection from the storm. Lightning flashed, and then thunder shook the sky. Anxious, he looked down at Lysistrata. She lay limply in his grasp, trembling in the cold. He smiled weakly at her. In her addled state, she had still managed to bring the blanket with her. Kish gently wrapped it around her.

Teleporting in front of the door to Ichigo's house, Kish placed Lysistrata on her feet. He supported her with his hands on her shoulders as he rang the doorbell. Teleporting back to the tree, he watched with growing concern as Lysistrata swayed on the spot. It did not seem like anyone was coming.

Just then, the door opened. Kish saw Ichigo in the doorway, tense, as if she expected a fight. Her eyes widened in shock as she saw what was outside her door.

"What the heck?!?" she cried, shocked.

_Please take her in!_ Kish thought, desperately watching, knowing he could do no more. Ichigo stood where she was, not moving. Lysistrata looked up from the ground, making eye contact with the frozen cat-girl. She made a rasping sound, as if she was trying to speak, then toppled forward onto Ichigo.

"M-mom! Mom!" Ichigo cried, panicking as the girl on top of her did not move at all. "Mom, I need your help!"

"What is it, honey?" Ichigo's parents ran to the door. Her father started ranting about something, while her mother picked Lysistrata up, and tried to guide her into another room. Lysistrata wobbled, then fell as her legs collapsed under her. Ichigo closed the door as she turned to see what she could do to help the stranger.

Cold seeped through Kish, helped by the drenching rain. _Lysie's body is more like a human's than a Cyniclon's. The human medicine would work better. Ichigo will be able to help her. She'll live._ Kish tried to convince himself. Feeling helpless, Kish waited on his tree branch, unable to see anything else. Finally, he teleported back to the ship, inventing some lie for when he would be confronted by Pai.

* * *

Dun dun dun dun! ((grins)) And that's that. Hopefully the plot will start rolling a bit more, but we'll see. I hope you enjoyed, and please drop a review!


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